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self from his father to attach himself to David, following the great Biblical text of conjugal love: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh." (Gen. II. 24) Saul, knowing himself rejected, quickly guesses that David is his rival and successor, and tries repeatedly to kill him. David says to Jonathan: "What have I done? What is mine iniquity? And what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? And he (Jonathan) said unto him: God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so. And David sware moreover and said: Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee." (1 Sam. XX. 1-4). David then suggests a complex scheme whereby they may know for certain Saul's intentions. The truth was crushing to Jonathan and David: "and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed forever." (1 Sam. XX. 41-42)

David now starts the life of a fugitive, hunted by Saul. One day Jonathan succeeds in meeting him briefly to give courage to his friend: "And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth." (1 Sam. XXIII. 16-17) Jonathan's humble tenderness is intact, and the two friends renew once more their alliance. They will not see each other again; never again will Jonathan be by David, loving and devoted. At a great battle against the Philistines Jonathan and his two brothers are killed, and Saul commits suicide. A messenger brings the news to David: Saul and Jonathan are dead, the way to the throne is free! The news of this catastrophe draws from David one of his most magnificent poems. No one should fail to understand what it so explicitly says: "O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women." (2 Sam. I. 25-26). These tears were not the only tribute paid to the memory of his friend: an indestructible fidelity materialized in a later action moves us just as much. Much later, after many battles, David was recognized as king, and, finally settled in Jerusalem he asked this question: "Is there any survivor of Saul's family whom I could treat kindly for Jonathan's sake?" An old servant informed him that there was still a son of Jonathan, a cripple.

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He sent for him and David declared: "Fear not, for I shall be kind to thee in memory of your father Jonathan. I shall return to thee all of Saul's lands, and thou shalt always eat at my table." This David followed faithfully, and the daily presence of the crippled child was for David a constant reminder of a marvellous friendship.

Such is, in rapid strokes, the Biblical account of this friendship. We have tried to analyze it objectively, without adding to the implications of the text, but also without glossing over its homophile implications. At the very first meeting, love bursts out in Jonathan's heart: in one instant he was dazzled and fascinated with a love that was not desire, but a giving, a bestowal. He loved David "as his own soul," divested himself of all that was most precious to him so as to clothe David, aspired only to disappear by him, and renounced his royalty to him. At first, David seems less taken. For him, to love Jonathan is to allow to be loved by him, but the kisses and tears of separation speak of full response, and the brutal announcement of Jonathan's death make him exclaim that his friend's love was superior to that of women. It should be remembered that neither was exclusively homophile, and that their tender love does not keep them from heterosexual relations and marriage. David himself will marry repeatedly, so that when he speaks of Jonathan's love "passing the love of women" he speaks from experience. It is true that Michal truly loves him, but even this marriage was something of a "business," as David himself states. The primary role of the wife then was to provide sons-she was not expected to be friend, confidante, or companion. Michal loves David, but when she helps him flee Saul and the latter asks why, she, instead of invoking love, which was the true reason, realizes that this would carry little weight and invents a lie: "He threatened to kill me!"

This other love was on an infinitely more marvellous level: that of free choice, of absolute gift. It was true love, not just a pact, a love that certainly did not await separation for its tears and kisses. When Jonathan wants to indicate an exact spot for a meeting, he tells David: "go to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand." (1 Sam. XX. 19) What was this mysterious "business?" The Bible often chastely veils realities that may be too precise....and in this instance leaves us room to dream, let us dream that David, the inspired poet, used for this love the same words used elsewhere, as for example in the Song of Songs: "O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be dispised.” “Set me as seal upon thine heart, as seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave. The coals of love are coals of fire which hath a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.....'